Lawrence High players celebrate after winning the Blue Valley Shootout Championship against Blue Valley Saturday evening in Stilwell.

Lawrence High’s boys basketball team usually leans on star guards Anthony Bonner, Justin Roberts and John Barbee in big games.

But 50 fouls were called in the Blue Valley Shootout championship game Saturday, and nobody was immune to the officials’ whistles. That meant the LHS stars needed to rely on their teammates off the bench to fill their absence.

The Lions’ bench stepped up and rose to the occasion, helping to give LHS an eight-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter, which was enough to hold off Blue Valley for a 63-60 victory at Blue Valley High. It was Lawrence’s first championship in the eight-team tournament since 2005.

At the end of the first half, the Lions (4-0) didn’t have any starters on the court because four of them had at least two fouls. Instead, seniors Tae Shorter, Logan Applegate and Kyle Hoffman, junior Anthony Harvey and sophomore Jackson Mallory were making the defensive stops.

“Eleven players won that game for us tonight,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “That’s an 11-man trophy. We’re really proud of those guys who came in. We didn’t miss a beat, and we probably played better with those guys in, honestly. Our top guys were a little tight, a little edgy.”

After a boost from the Lions’ bench, the stars stepped back into the spotlight in the second half.

Bonner, who had three first-half fouls, including a technical for slapping a chair on the team’s bench, scored nine of his game-high 23 points in the third quarter. He drilled a three-pointer, slashed through defenders in half-court sets and ran past them in transition for layups.

But after all of those drives that put points on the scoreboard, Bonner was crediting his teammates for everything they did that didn’t show up in the box score.

“I was talking in the locker room, and I really thought that was the highlight of the game,” Bonner said of the bench’s performance. “Forget all of the scoring and all of the big plays down the stretch. Those guys coming in and maintaining that lead, playing good defense … I’m really proud of the bench guys.”

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers (2-1) went on a 10-3 run over four minutes, closing the score to 58-55 with more than a minute left.

But Barbee, Bonner and Roberts made enough free throws in the final minute to slam to door on any potential comeback.

Roberts scored eight of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.

“I just tried to be more aggressive, focus on my shot,” said Roberts, who was selected for the all-tournament team, along with Bonner. “I was just forcing it (early), so I tried to let the game come to me.”

Similar to last year’s Blue Valley Shootout championship, when the Lions lost 60-56 to Highland Park, LHS started slowly in the first quarter, missing layups and starting a cold 3-of-15 from the field.

But the Lions still found a way to win through the cold shooting, foul trouble and first game of the season in a true road environment.

“They were right there with us,” Lewis said. “That’s the way it should be in the championship game, right? We feel good to walk out of here with a win, no doubt about it.”

The Lions will travel to Free State for the City Showdown at 7 p.m. Friday.

LAWRENCE (63)

Justin Roberts 5-16 7-11 19, Price Morgan 1-2 0-0 2, Ben Rajewski 2-3 0-1 5, Anthony Bonner 10-15 2-4 23, John Barbee 3-6 3-7 10, Fred Brou 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Harvey 0-1 0-0 0, Tae Shorter 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Applegate 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 22-47 14-25 63.

BLUE VALLEY (60)

Will Brennan 2-3 1-2 6, Alex Martin 3-8 0-0 8, Tyler Geiman 4-13 8-9 19, Gus Gomez 4-6 7-12 15, Alex DeBey 1-3 0-2 2, Ritter Braithwait 3-5 3-6 10, Jalen Thompson 0-1 0-4 0. Totals 17-39 19-35 60.

Lawrence 17 15 16 15 — 63

Blue Valley 14 12 14 20 — 60

Three-point goals: Lawrence 5-11 (Roberts 2, Rajewski, Bonner, Barbee); Blue Valley 7-19 (Geiman 3, Martin 2, Brennan, Braithwait). Fouled out: Rajewski, Brou, DeBey. Turnovers: Lawrence 4, Blue Valley 11.